


Jukebox Phantom

by chewhy



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Phantom of the Opera Fusion, Fairy Godmother Jinyoung, M/M, Musicals, slight Jisung and Minho pairing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-08 19:43:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13465221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chewhy/pseuds/chewhy
Summary: Hyunjin thinks it might be a little weird that he's snooping on a stranger showering, but it really is just because of their beautiful singing, really!





	Jukebox Phantom

**Author's Note:**

> bleahhshhfs i wrote this in between my classes in one day lol so please forgive any mistakes but like.. seungmin and hyunjin.. so wholesome

Hyunjin is a simple man of habit. He wakes up every morning for his 9AM classes at 8:30AM. He goes to the bathroom and follows his routine: pee, wash hands, brush teeth, splash some water on his face. Then, he returns to his dorm room and throws on a shirt, pants, his backpack, and heads out. Sometimes he knocks on his roommate, Jisung’s, head as he leaves. Good luck? Or something.

 

And that’s how the first semester finishes: running off to class and clubs, grabbing meals with friends in dining halls, stressing over projects and exams and whatnot. 

 

Second semester begins with their group gathering in Chan and Woojin’s room drinking beers and talking about their breaks. 

 

“ _Really?_ ” Woojin asks Chan in the corner. “Its the night before the first day of the semester and we’re all drinking like a bunch of alcoholics.”

 

Chan just gives a pointed glance to Woojin’s possibly spiked Coca Cola. “Whatever,” he mutters. 

 

“So?” Jisung asks the room, “What classes are you guys taking?”

 

Everybody groans simultaneously, Changbin burying his head as he begs, “I don’t want to think about that yet.”

 

“Come on, guys,” Hyunjin speaks up, taking his roommate’s side. “We literally have school tomorrow? Speaking of which, I should get to bed. I have all 9 AM’s this semester again.”

 

“What? Hyunjin, why?” everybody asks. “You must really hate yourself or something,” Minho comments.

 

Jisung pipes up next, “Or hate me!”

 

Hyunjin just chuckles, “You don’t even wake up to your own alarms. I’ll be heading back guys, it was nice catching up!” He swings open the door and leaves the room, but then pauses and turns back in.

 

“Back so soon? I guess you really missed us, huh?” Chan teases.

 

Hyunjin just shakes his head and asks, “Did we get a new neighbor? I don’t remember a Kim Seungmin living across from uh.” He gestures to the door across the hall which sports a new sign saying, “Kim Seungmin.”

 

“Oh yeah, I think he was abroad last semester and is supposed to move in sometime this week,” Chan explains. “I haven’t seen him around, though, so I guess he’s missing the first day of classes.”

 

“Oh. I see,” Hyunjin says. “Well, I’ll be going for real now. Bye guys!”

 

They all wave at him as he leaves, and Hyunjin smiles as he hears the sound of glass breaking followed by a chorus of, “FELIX!”

 

—

 

The next morning when Hyunjin opens the door to the bathroom, he notices something different. It takes him a moment, what with trying to wake himself up properly, but by the time he’s done washing his face, he realizes that somebody is in one of the shower stalls. It’s a bit unusual, seeing as none of the other kids in the dorm have ever woken up before nine in the morning. However, it isn’t getting in the way of Hyunjin’s routine, so he decides not to mind in and is about to finish up and leave when suddenly he hears the voice of an angel emanating from behind the curtain. 

 

Hyunjin freezes where he stands, listening to the delicate melody that rings in the bathroom. A moment later, he looks down at his watch, muttering, “Shit,” as he leaves in a hurry. He really can’t be late to class on the first day. 

 

—

 

Later, as he sits at lunch with his roommate, he’s about to tell Jisung about the incident before he realizes that A) he’s being kind of creepy, hanging around while some stranger showers. For Pete’s sake, the dude is naked in there! And B) he kind of wants to be selfish and keep the angelic voice to himself. He knows that if he tells Jisung, Jisung will want to barge in there and recruit the voice for a feature on one of his rap tracks — that is, if Jisung were to ever wake up before noon. 

 

So then, when Jisung asks how his morning went so far, Hyunjin glosses over that morning and laughs as he tells Jisung about his weird math teacher that wears suspenders and knee-high socks, like some German doll. 

 

—

 

The next morning, the voice is back. And the next, and the next, and the next. Hyunjin has been arriving consistently five minutes late to every single one of his classes, but he can’t bring himself to care as he leans against the door, listening fo the sweet song of an angel. 

 

He recognizes he’s being a little creepy when he starts setting his alarm for 8:28, then 8:27, then 8:25, but it becomes ingrained in him. His routine starts to mold itself around the voice, listening for it every morning. 

 

One morning, the voice isn’t there, and there’s nobody in the shower. Hyunjin shrugs, because whoever it is probably just slept in, or didn’t feel like showering that morning. He doesn’t notice that he’s subconsciously brushing his teeth slower, spending a minute longer looking in the mirror as he wonders if the guy is sick, or hurt. He yelps when he looks down at his watch and sees the arrows pointing to 9:05, rushing back to his room to grab his bag. 

 

As he runs out the door and hurries down the stairs, he sees a flash of a green bathrobe and brunet hair rushing into the bathroom equally hastily. 

 

Later that day, even as Hyunjin sits in his lectures, doodling on his notes, his mind is brought back to that morning. _Could that have been him?_

 

—

 

Weeks pass, and by now Hyunjin has narrowed down his choices to the new Seungmin kid, or somebody is taking the effort of coming all the way up to the fourth floor boy’s bathroom to shower with the shitty water pressure, and Hyunjin is pretty sure it’s not the latter. 

 

When he tries to subtly interrogate Chan and Woojin about it, they turn out no answers, just shrugging and saying, “I don’t know, he seems to mostly stay in his room when he’s back at the dorm, but he’s usually not around that I’ve noticed.”

 

Woojin nods in agreement, “One time I was in the performance building and I think I saw him there? It was pretty late at night.”

 

Hyunjin nods, absorbing the information and waving off any questions they might have in return for him. “Cool, well I’ve got to go finish my program so, I’ll catch you guys at dinner?”

 

—

 

The next morning finds Hyunjin back in the bathroom, leaning against the counter with his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. Over the weeks, Hyunjin’s been secretly serenaded by a variety of music ranging from American pop to trot to even show tunes and everything in between. 

 

There’s a pause as the song ends, and without even realizing it, Hyunjin speaks, “Sing Shawn Mendez.”

 

The pause stretches and it feels like the sound of the water pounding onto the tile is amplified. Hyunjin is absolutely mortified and hopes to God that maybe-Seungmin didn’t hear him. 

 

Hyunjin already has one foot out the door, when suddenly a gentle melody hits his ears. He pauses where he stands, door half open, body facing out but head turned in as he listens:

 

_I thought that I’ve been hurt before_

_But no one’s ever left me quite this sore_

_Your words cut deeper than a knife_

_Now I need someone to breathe me back to life_

 

Hyunjin leaves before the song finishes because he’s late enough as it is, but it takes more effort than he would have thought to tear himself away. All day, the melodies haunt him, floating past his ears like a dandelion seed floats in the wind, blown by the breath of a child and wrapped up in a wish, a hope, before landing gently in a field of grass. 

 

When Jisung pokes at him in class and asks him what song he’s been humming under his breath all day, Hyunjin replies, “A hymn.”

 

—

 

A week later Hyunjin exits the restroom red-faced, half from embarrassment and half from excitement. For the first time, Hyunjin had heard a laugh and if he had thought before that the singing was like honey to his ears, that twinkling laughter must have been ambrosia, some golden nectar for the gods, scooped from the Spring of Youth itself.

 

The only thing marring the moment is that the laugh was directed at _himself_ for his off-key singing as Hyunjin had, once again, unknowingly begun singing along to the Ed Sheeran tunes that were bouncing off the walls around him. 

 

—

 

And so another month passes with maybe-Seungmin’s voice echoing in Hyunjin’s ears every morning as he briskly walks to class, and occasionally maybe-Seungmin will play jukebox for Hyunjin as he requests songs left and right. After the initial embarrassment, Hyunjin decides that even this little interaction is worth it. Also, he supposes that he feels a little less like a peeping Tom now that it’s apparent that maybe-Seungmin knows Hyunjin is listening on the other side. 

 

One day, Hyunjin walks into the bathroom, and the singing is there as always, except there’s something new. He doesn’t recognize it until he approaches the sink counter to put down his stuff and sees an envelope addressed to: _My Angel of Music_.

 

Hyunjin clutches it in his hand as he leaves, and opens the now slightly wrinkled paper as he slouches in the back of the lecture hall. Inside is an invitation to the _Stray Player’s_ production of the _Phantom of the Opera_. It’s coming up in a week, and Hyunjin can’t stop the smile that spreads on his face. 

 

Later, he convinces Jisung and Minho to come with him. When they ask if he knows somebody, he just shrugs and moves the topic to something else, still too shy to admit his growing crush. 

 

Too soon and yet not soon enough, the morning of the performance arrives, and as Hyunjin finishes up, he calls out, “Break a leg!” behind his shoulder as he leaves the bathroom.

 

Leaving in too much of a hurry, he misses the “Thank you!” that is called out behind him as the door clicks shut. 

 

—

 

Later that night, after a whole day of Jisung shoving him to stop shaking his legs so much and too much time spent in front of the mirror before heading out, Hyunjin sits in the fifth row of the theatre. There’s a bouquet of flowers bouncing up and down on his lap which Jeongin helped him pick out. _Bless that boy_ , Hyunjin thinks, _the only one of our group who doesn’t question my motives_. But, when the curtains open, all thoughts of flowers or Jeongin or whatever are erased from his mind. 

 

His program accidentally falls from his hands and he picks it back up, squinting down at the actor bios. He can’t make out much in the dim lighting but when the stage suddenly brightens with the start of Act I, he spots the name he has been searching for. 

 

_Kim Seungmin_ _as_ _Raul de Chagny_

Kim Seungmin is currently a sophomore majoring in International Relations and minoring in Music Performance. He traveled abroad to Los Angeles in the United States of America last semester to study film and theatre performance among other things and returns to Korea with updated skills that he will showcase tonight. Follow him on Instagram @seungm1nn1e. Lastly, Seungmin would like to dedicate his performance tonight to his bathroom angel of music.

 

Hyunjin almost screams as he takes in that last line. Instead, he manages to control himself to a strangled squeak which luckily gets lost in the gasps of the crowd as the chandelier flies across the ceiling. 

 

As the musical begins, Hyunjin is slowly drawn in by the music and set. As he looks on in wonder, suddenly, a voice that he recognizes floats through the air.

 

_Can it be, can it be Christine?_

 

At that moment, Hyunjin looks up and sees the boy he can only assume to be Kim Seungmin standing in a makeshift opera box. Hyunjin sits there, mouth hanging open as he looks up at the actual angel that sits maybe twenty feet away from him. Kim Seungmin’s whole essence seems to be glowing, and even though later, everyone will explain to Hyunjin that it was actually just a spotlight, Hyunjin will insist that the light radiated from _within_ Seungmin. 

 

Hyunjin remains like that for the rest of Act I, sitting with his mouth hanging open and letting the music envelope his ears until finally, intermission is called and the curtains close. Hyunjin is pretty sure he would have remained in that position, hanging off the edge of his chair, for the rest of intermission and until the entire musical finished if Minho hadn’t pushed his mouth closed for him, saying, “You’ll catch flies. Jisung’s in the bathroom and I’m getting snacks.”

 

Blinking into the now bright lights of the theatre, Hyunjin looks down into his lap, taking note of the flowers that still sit there. Making up his mind, Hyunjin decides that it is now or never, nervously grasping the bouquet before shuffling out of the seats. 

 

He sees that some of the cast have made their way out to mingle with the audience during their brief break, and catches sight of brunet hair in the corner. Looking again, he identifies the face as the one and only angel, Kim Seungmin. 

 

Realizing that the moment is now or never, Hyunjin makes a dash for it. And by it, he means the dressing rooms and not Kim Seungmin himself. He’s not sure what he expected to face when stepping inside, but he sees a couple of actors in costume, peering at him curiously. 

 

“Uh. Hi,” Hyunjin squeaks out.

 

“Hey,” the one dressed as the Phantom answers. “Can I help you?”

 

“Oh. Yes. Uh, can you give this to Seungmin? Or put it near his stuff or something?” Hyunjin asks, holding the flowers in front of him. He’s slightly embarrassed to see that his hands are shaking, but he’ll do whatever it takes to be in and out of that room fast. He just hopes that his shaking doesn’t dislodge the card nestled between the stems of the flowers. He remembers the painstaking care he took to write in his best penmanship, _“Thanks for the invite! Even though ‘Phantom’ sounds cooler, I don’t mind being your ‘Angel of Music’.”_ To be quite honest, he’s cringing right now thinking about it but doesn’t have the heart to take it out either.

 

“Oh, sure,” the Phantom says, smiling as he takes the flowers out of Hyunjin’s hands. “You must be his angel of music?”

 

“Um,” Hyunjin panics, shouts, “You perform really well!” and then bolts. Here’s to hoping he never sees that guy ever again. 

 

He makes his way back to his seat and flips through his program as he waits, pausing to look back at the character bios. This time, it isn’t Seungmin’s bio that stands out. Hyunjin’s eyes bulge out of his head as he sees

 

_Park Jinyoung as The Phantom/Erik_

 

Hyunjin can’t believe he just made a fool of himself in front of _the_ Park Jinyoung. Looking back, he’s realizing that it makes more sense that Minho and Jisung didn’t push for an answer when asking why he’d decided to go see the musical. They probably thought he was here to fanboy over Jinyoung. Which, now that he knows who it is, he probably will in addition to fanboying over Seungmin as well. 

 

As Jisung and Minho jostle back into their seats, Minho sees Hyunjin’s playbill open to Jinyoung’s bio page. “You should get an autograph after the show, what with how in love with him you are.”

 

“Stop it,” Hyunjin groans, and is only saved from more teasing by the lights dimming down. 

 

The second act is even better than the first, and once again Minho has to push Hyunjin’s mouth shut, which remains open even through the standing ovation. Hyunjin can’t help but clap and cheer extra loud when Seungmin comes out for his last bow, and he’s 99% sure that Seungmin looked over at him and they made eye contact. 

 

After the show, Hyunjin is getting ready to head out the door with his friends when Minho grabs his shoulder and turns him 180 degrees.

 

“Why don’t you run along and get an autograph from your favorite person, while Jisung and I go grab pizza. We’ll meet you back at the dorm. Be safe!” Minho calls as he drags Jisung off with him. 

 

Hyunjin stands there dumbfounded as he watches his two safety lines retreat into the distance. The only reminder that they were even there is the sound of Jisung whining, “But I wanted to see Hyunjin embarrass himself!” followed by Minho’s counterargument of, “Well, you get to spend some extra quality time with me instead.”

 

Hyunjin is about to just ignore Minho’s words and leave when somebody grabs his hand. He looks down at the gloved hand covering his, and when his eyes trail up the sleeve, he half expects to see Seungmin stopping him from leaving. Instead, he is faced with the sight of Jinyoung, still in his stage costume but now with the mask removed. His makeup is still half on though, and it just looks so weird that Hyunjin can’t make eye contact for longer than three seconds at a time.

 

“Hey, kid,” Jinyoung says.

 

“Uh, hi. Can I help you?” Hyunjin asks, feeling a weird, reverse deja vu to their previous encounter.

 

“Yeah, come with me. Your friend is waiting for you, you know. It’s rude to just leave like that,” Jinyoung scolds as he drags Hyunjin along behind him. 

 

Too soon, they are already in front of the dressing room door. Jinyoung has his hand on the doorknob, ready to open it when Hyunjin stops him. “Wait. I can’t do this,” he begs.

 

Jinyoung is having none of it, and says, “Stop acting like a wimp. Seungmin’s going to cry if you leave now.”

 

Even the mere thought of the angel Seungmin crying has Hyunjin changing his mind immediately. “Okay,” he agrees, “I’ll go in there. But on one condition.”

 

Jinyoung just cocks an eyebrow at him (and it looks really weird with the scar makeup on). “What.”

 

“Can you sign my program for me?”

 

Jinyoung just laughs, opens the door, and chucks Hyunjin inside.

 

Inside he can hear their voices.

 

“Hi.”

 

“Um. Hi.”

 

“Hi.”

 

“I’m Hyunjin.”

 

“Oh! I’m Seungmin.”

 

“I know. I mean. Uh. Would you like to grab coffee?”

 

“What?”

 

“I mean… not right now. Later. Like, in the week.”

 

“Right. Haha.”

 

Jinyoung chuckles to himself, muttering, “Young love,” as he leaves hearing the sounds of awkward introductions and bumbled requests for dates. 

 

Later, when Hyunjin and Seungmin finally leave, hand in hand, Hyunjin will pick up a program off the floor that is signed, “From, Park Jinyoung. Please go on a date already so Seungmin can stop daydreaming during rehearsals.”

**Author's Note:**

> i love love love kudos and comments <3 very much appreciated!
> 
> maybe will write an epilogue depending on how motivated i am lol... thanks for reading, friends!
> 
> find me on [[twitter](https://twitter.com/2jaepg)] and [[tumblr](http://busanjeongin.tumblr.com/)]  
> i have no stray kids mutuals please be my friend lol
> 
>  
> 
> [Buy Me a Coffee](https://ko-fi.com/R6R27QMR)


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